At the Watercooler ... Kalamazoo people are talking

KALAMAZOO — At the Watercooler is a regular listing of announcements from Southwest Michigan businesses, individuals and organizations.

BUSINESS EXPANSION

-Kalamazoo home design, remodeling and building firm Pennings & Sons has a new division. Pennings Accessible Living has become part of the business as a result of the merger of Pennings & Sons with Leeward Group. Pennings Accessible Living will provide accessible living solutions -- assessment, modification, design/build and maintenance services – that allow seniors and people with disabilities to live comfortably at home. David Lee, owner of Leeward Group since 2004, will continue to work with his customers as the business development and salesperson for Pennings Accessible Living.

A HIGHER LEVEL

-Borgess Medical Center has earned renewed accreditation as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence. The accreditation formally acknowledges the Borgess Bariatric Surgery Program’s continuing commitment to providing quality improvement and patient safety for bariatric surgery patients. The Borgess Bariatric Surgery Program is the only bariatric surgery center of excellence in southwest Michigan.

WORTH NOTING

Denise Crawford

-Family Health Center, of Kalamazoo, is working hard to enroll residents in newly available health coverage. Chief Executive Officer Denise Crawford said, “There are 12,500 people in the city of Kalamazoo who don’t have health insurance. They’re just one illness or accident away from financial ruin. That’s unacceptable. So we’re doing our part by helping them enroll in coverage under the Affordable Care Act or the Medicaid expansion known as Healthy Michigan.” FHC has been holding weekly Healthcare Enrollment Events at area churches and other locations since late 2013. The health clinic is also using flyers and advertising to inform residents, get their questions answered and help them enroll. Since that effort began, FHC has helped more than 1,000 people access coverage options through the Health Insurance Marketplace.

WORTH PRAISE

-Honor Credit Union, based in St. Joseph, recently received the Platinum Stake Award from the Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce and Cornerstone Alliance as part of their Business Recognition Program for 2013. The award is based on criteria measuring a business’ increasing investment in the local economy. Among more than $1 million in capital investments made by the credit union was the purchase of the Edgewater Bank branch in Decatur, a tear-down and rebuild of Honor’s Dowagiac branch location, and the purchase of land to begin construction on a new centralized operations center.

SPEAKING UP

-Joseph C. Papa, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Perrigo Co. PLC will present at the upcoming RBC Capital Markets' Global Healthcare Conference. The conference is scheduled for Feb. 25, at the New York Palace Hotel in New York City. Perrigo is the world’s largest maker of store-brand pharmaceuticals. It is incorporated in Dublin, Ireland, but its primary operations are in Allegan.

At the Watercooler — includes the widest
variety of general interest business announcements, everything from trade
industry awards to staff recertifications. Things that might be included:
awards; notices of recognition from an industry trade association; election to a
local, regional, state or national business organization; significant changes
in business hours; the change of a business location.

Also
included are announcements of new businesses in our readership area. With some zigs
and zags, that runs from Allegan County in the north, to the Indiana border in
the south, and from the Lake Michigan shoreline in the west to just the other
side of the Calhoun County border in the east. We require the name of the
enterprise, its location, a brief description of the business it conducts, the
name(s) of the owner(s) and, where applicable, its hours of operation.